Tank gun barrel production has returned to the UK for the first time in two decades with the opening of a new facility run by German defence company Rheinmetall in Telford. The UK Gun Hall will manufacture barrels and breaches for large calibre weapons and has created 100 jobs, with the firm saying it plans to expand its workforce further. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting attended the opening ceremony on Thursday and said Britain was "back in the business of making weapons" for its armed forces. He described the achievement as "rapid reindustrialisation in action", noting that the facility had moved from an empty site to full production in eight months.
The barrels and breaches produced at the Telford facility will be used on both 120mm and 155mm weapon systems, including the RCH 155 and future artillery platforms, according to Rheinmetall. The company is already involved in the UK's Boxer combat vehicle programme and is upgrading the country's Challenger tanks. Specialist workers from Telford were recruited for the roles and received training at a Rheinmetall facility in Germany in precision manufacturing, quality assurance and specialist weapon production.
Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall, called the gun hall an "important milestone" that would strengthen the country's industrial base "for decades to come". He told BBC Radio Shropshire that the investment in Telford was significant and that the firm had only one similar production line in Germany. Papperger said the company currently employed 1,300 people in the UK but was looking to increase that number. He added that the firm had "a lot of orders" and needed the additional capacity, and praised Telford for having "very well-educated people, highly-motivated people".
Streeting used the opening to highlight the government's reindustrialisation agenda, describing Telford as being "synonymous with engineering and manufacturing" and calling the facility "a vote of confidence in our country". He said the project demonstrated "a statement of intent on our mission to reindustrialise Britain and create good, well-paid jobs across our country".